
Shares of the Singapore-based developer fell to the lowest since 2009 early Monday. Last week, CDL’s chairman and billionaire family patriarch Kwek Leng Beng sued his son and chief executive officer Sherman Kwek, along with other board directors, accusing them of leading a coup against him.
The elder Kwek also said that he has sought to dismiss his son, but was blocked from doing so by the board.
Father-Son Feud Plunges Singapore’s Richest Clan Into Crisis
The crisis engulfing the firm has shown little sign of abating going into the weekend, with duelling statements coming from both sides. The tussle has prompted downgrades from analysts including those at JPMorgan Chase & Co and UOB-Kay Hian Holdings Ltd.
On Monday, the company said in a statement that Sherman, the younger scion of the family, will remain as CEO, while business operations remain “fully functional and unaffected.”
The dispute is another major blow to CDL, following its setback in China, where the firm wrote down a billion-dollar investment. It casts a shadow on medium-term outlook, wrote RHB Bank Bhd analyst Vijay Natarajan in a note Monday. He changed his rating on the stock to neutral from buy. “We believe the recent lapses will make it hard for long-only institutional investors to hold CDL as a part of their portfolio,” he said.
The elder Kwek has alleged that his son and other members of the board breached corporate governance rules by hastily appointing two new directors outside of the typical nomination process.
Sherman and six other directors in turn denied any attempt at a coup, and accused his father of being influenced by Catherine Wu, an adviser to the board of the firm’s hotel subsidiary, whose conduct raises “a very serious issue of corporate governance.”